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Al-Yamamah Programme

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many claims by BAE Systems for the provision of accommodation and support services for
 
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overseas visitors have been endorsed since 1 January 1999 by staff of his Department's Director General of the Saudi Armed Forces Project regarding the Al-Yamamah programme; and what the value of these claims was. [175878]

Mr. Hoon: There have been 57 BAE Systems' claims endorsed by members of the Director General of the Saudi Armed Forces Project that have included charges for the provision of accommodation and support services to Saudi service and civilian personnel on duty in the United Kingdom. The personnel involved were either attending training courses associated with the operation or maintenance of equipment supplied under the Al-Yamamah programme, or formed part of UK-based liaison teams monitoring contract performance in the logistics and training fields. The details of these claims are confidential between the two Governments, and I am therefore withholding that information under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. However, their overall value has averaged around £1.25 million annually since 1 January 1999.

Amnesty International Report (Kosovo)

Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received concerning the Amnesty International report of May 2004 Facts and Figures on trafficking of women and girls for forced prostitution in Kosovo; and if he will make a statement. [176344]

Mr. Ingram: Amnesty International wrote to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 6 May 2004 with a copy of the report, '"So does it mean that we have the rights?" Protecting the human rights of women and girls trafficked for forced prostitution in Kosovo'. I also refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 May 2004, Official Report, column 666W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Halifax (Mrs. Mahon).

BAE Systems

Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what support his Department has offered BAE Systems in their bid to upgrade helicopters in Bulgaria. [175799]

Mr. Ingram: The Defence Export Services Organisation has co-ordinated Government support for BAE System's bid to upgrade helicopters in Bulgaria. This has included briefing the Bulgarians on the UK's concept of operations for helicopters in a NATO environment and raising the matter with representatives of the Bulgarian Government.

Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what evaluation his Department has made of the value for money of the BAE Systems bid for the upgrading of helicopters in Bulgaria. [175800]

Mr. Ingram: None. Overseas governments reach their own decisions on how best to meet the equipment needs of their armed forces.

Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many meetings between BAE Systems and Bulgarian military personnel the British military attaché in Sofia has attended in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) Bulgaria; and on what dates. [175801]

 
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Mr. Ingram: The British Defence Attaché in Sofia has regularly attended meetings between BAE Systems and Bulgarian military personnel in Bulgaria.

One record has been traced of a meeting held in the UK on 9 December 2002. This was attended by the British Defence Attaché, BAE Systems officials and a Bulgarian delegation led by the Chief of Defence Staff of the Bulgarian Armed Forces.

Belize

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the strength was of UK armed forces in Belize in each of the last 25 years. [175241]

Mr. Ingram: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The United Kingdom garrison in Belize was withdrawn in 1994. From the early 1980s until reductions in advance of withdrawal in the early 1990s, the garrison comprised a full battalion group with an element of RAF support, numbering in total an estimated 1,200 to 1,500 military personnel. In 1994, the garrison was replaced by the much smaller British Army Training Support Unit Belize (BATSUB). BATSUB currently has around 70 permanent military staff. In addition, many hundreds of personnel pass through BATSUB for short periods of training each year.

Computer File Formats

Mr. Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his Department's policy is in respect of the computer file formats used for the (a) distribution and (b) archiving of publicly available documents. [173361]

Mr. Caplin: The policy of the Ministry of Defence is to follow the "Guidelines for Government Websites", issued by the Office of the e-Envoy, when making documents publicly available in electronic form. Most documents published on www.mod.uk are in Hypertext Mark-Up Language (HTML) or Portable Document Format (pdf).

Declarations of Interest

Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what declarations of interest were made by civil servants in the Saudi Armed Forces Project Office of the Ministry of Defence between 2000 and 2002. [175063]

Mr. Hoon [holding answer 21 May 2004]: The question is assumed to refer to declarations made by civil servants when they hold private investments in companies with which they have official dealings. There are no records or knowledge of any such declarations by officials employed by the Saudi Armed Forces Project Office during this period.

Defence Bodies

Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the balance sheets of the central management groups (a) Director General Information and Communication Services and (b) Defence Communication Services for financial year 1999–2000. [176189]

 
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Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the letter I sent on 21 August 2003, Reference: D/Min(AF)/Al PQ 2185N/03/L) to the hon. Member for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin), copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House. The management grouping Balance Sheets are shown under the Central TLB for the Director General Information and Communication Services and the Chief of Defence Logistics TLB for the Defence Communication Services Agency.

Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost of capital charges incurred by the Defence Communication Services Agency was for financial years (a) 1999–2000 and (b) 2000–01. [176194]

Mr. Ingram: The cost of capital charges reported by the Defence Communication Services Agency for the appropriate years were as follows:

Financial year	£ million
1999–2000	43
2000–01	58

Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will place in the Library a copy of (a) operating cost statements, (b) statements of recognised gains and losses, (c) cash flow statements and (d) balance sheets for the Chief of Defence Logistics management group DG Defence Logistics Command Information Systems for financial year 2001–02; [176200]

(2) if he will place in the Library a copy of the (a) operating cost statement, (b) statement of recognised gains and losses and (c) cash flow statement for the Chief of Defence Logistics management group Defence Fuels Group for financial year 1999–2000. [176152]

Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Aldershot (Mr. Howarth) on 20 November 2003 Official Report, column 1262W. I also refer the hon. Member to the holding answer I gave the hon. Member for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin) on 6 October 2003 Official Report, column 1158W covering related financial statements, which includes the Defence Communication Services Agency and Defence Fuels Group.

Departmental Annual Report

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much the production of his Department's latest annual report cost; how many copies were printed; how many copies of it were sold at its cover price; to whom copies of the report have been provided free of charge; and how many copies were provided free of charge. [171139]

Mr. Caplin: The Ministry of Defence's Annual Report and Accounts 2002–03 (HC1125) was published by TSO (The Stationery Office). This was the first year for which the Annual Performance Report and Departmental Resource Accounts have been published as a single document. The MOD bought 750 copies of the Annual Report and Accounts 2002–03 at a cost of £19,584.00. MOD copies were distributed within the Department, to other Government Departments, other Governments, the HCDC, the House Libraries,
 
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Conservative and Liberal Democrat Defence and Treasury spokesmen, the Leader of the Cross Benches, and to members of the press. The Report is available on the MOD website, www.mod.uk

TSO's production costs and the number of copies it printed are commercially confidential. However, TSO has advised that as of 20 May 2004, it had sold 402 copies of the Report at the cover price of £36.00.

Producing the Annual Report draws on performance management and financial information across the Department. A large number of people are involved in the process and it is not possible to calculate the cost of the Report's production without incurring disproportionate expense.

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